實戰(zhàn)口語情景對話：Fast-Paced Life 快節(jié)奏的生活

Abidemi: So Rory, talking about schedules, do you ever think that life is too busy or too much that we're trying to fit too many things?

阿比德米：羅瑞，我們來談?wù)勅粘贪才?，你是否認(rèn)為生活太忙碌了或者我們要去適應(yīng)太多事情?

Rory: Maybe for some people. Not for me, actually. I take life quite slowly. But I noticed with my daughter that we're always sort of rushing her to do things. So when she comes home from school, she has to do her homework. And then one night a week, she has to go to swimming then she has piano, then she has like an acrobat lesson. When I was a kid, we did nothing after school, you know. We went to the park by ourselves and played. But nothing was scheduled, so we just did what we wanted.

羅瑞：也許對有些人來說是這樣的。但其實對我來說并不是。我一直在享受慢生活。不過我注意到，我們一直讓我們的女兒做很多事。她放學(xué)回來以后，要寫作業(yè)。她每周有一個晚上要去上游泳課，她還要上鋼琴課和雜技課。我小的時候，放學(xué)以后什么都不做。那時我們會去公園里玩。并不做安排，想做什么就做什么。

Abidemi: I see.

阿比德米：我知道了。

Rory: So do you think like kids today, we try and make them do too much or they try and do too much.

羅瑞：那你認(rèn)為對現(xiàn)在的孩子來說，我們是不是讓他們做得太多了，或者說他們做的事情是不是太多了?

Abidemi: That's a really good question. And I think, yes, you're right. It feels like a lot – that we expect a lot more from kids these days. Whereas similar to your background too, when I was growing up, I thought sometimes that I was bored out of my mind because there was just nothing really much to do except for maybe going to the library and borrow some books to read. And I had all the time in the world to read them. But these days, you see kids running around trying to do it all. Play soccer or some kind of sports or do some club activities or just something. They are always busy, the kids I see around me. So...

阿比德米：這是一個非常好的問題。我認(rèn)為你說得沒錯。的確是有點兒多，現(xiàn)在我們對孩子的期望很高。我和你的成長背景很相似，我在成長過程中有時會感覺無聊極了，因為除了去圖書館借書看以外，沒什么事情可做。所以我當(dāng)時一直在讀書。而現(xiàn)在，孩子們會去各個地方做各種事情。踢足球、從事其他體育活動、參加社團活動或做其他事情。我看到我周圍的一些孩子一直很忙。所以……

Rory: Yeah. Yeah. I think we're trying to make them maybe grow up too quickly or do too much too soon. When I was kid, you could sort of find your own path. You know, when you became a teenager, when you start to get to university, starting to make these choices. But now, parents seem to – okay, the kid is going to do piano and they're going to do soccer and they're going to study hard for, you know, exams, do extra math tuition. I don't know if kids can handle it.

羅瑞：對，沒錯。我認(rèn)為我們讓他們成長地太快了，或者說我們讓孩子們太早去做過多的事情。我小時候可以自己尋找屬于自己的道路。進(jìn)入青少年時期，上大學(xué)以后，可以自己做出選擇。但是現(xiàn)在，父母讓孩子去學(xué)鋼琴、去踢足球，讓他們努力學(xué)習(xí)應(yīng)對考試，還讓他們參加課外數(shù)學(xué)輔導(dǎo)班。我不知道孩子們能否承受得住。

Abidemi: I don't know either. It also seems that it comes with our world today. It's a lot more competitive. And what I've heard is like people are trying to prepare their kids as much as possible. I've heard, for some universities, you need to show that you can handle a lot.

阿比德米：我也不知道。看起來這就是現(xiàn)在世界的趨勢?，F(xiàn)在競爭性更強。我聽說人們在試圖讓自己的孩子盡量做好準(zhǔn)備。有些大學(xué)需要證明你能應(yīng)對各種情況。

Rory: Right.

羅瑞：好。

Abidemi: And because everybody is the same place, they're all racing for the same positions that if you don't distinguish yourself in some way, you can't make it.

阿比德米：因為所有人都在同一個地方，他們要為同樣的職位競爭，如果不能讓自己和其他人有所區(qū)別，那就無法成功。

Rory: Yeah.

羅瑞：對。

Abidemi: So in response to that, parents are trying to pile as much on the kids as possible.

阿比德米：為了應(yīng)對這種局面，父母試圖盡量讓孩子接觸更多的事情。

Rory: Yeah. I was reading something that said that employers really look now for extra-curricular things that kids do. So not just their grades but what clubs were they members of. Were they acting in the theater, were they a member of a sports team and these things seem to be becoming more important now.

羅瑞：對。我看到有文章說，現(xiàn)在雇主也需要那種有課外經(jīng)歷的員工?，F(xiàn)在招聘不僅看學(xué)習(xí)成績，還要看他們參加過什么社團。他們是否有劇院演出經(jīng)歷，是否參加過運動隊，現(xiàn)在這些事情似乎變得越來越重要了。

Abidemi: Than just school work.

阿比德米：不只是學(xué)校成績。

Rory: Yeah. Yeah.

羅瑞：對，沒錯。

Abidemi: I think it's a shame. I like the way I grew up. Yeah. I'll like if my kids could have a bit more freedom but I can also see that with the way the world is going, I would probably be anxious for them to do as much as possible so that they can have the best in the future.

阿比德米：我認(rèn)為這很遺憾。我喜歡我的成長方式。我也希望我的孩子能更自由一些，可是在看到世界的發(fā)展趨勢后，我希望孩子們能盡量多接觸些事情，這樣他們才能擁有最好的未來。

Rory: Yeah, because it's a balance between giving them the freedom and then giving them the opportunities to excel at various things.

羅瑞：對，要在給他們自由和讓他們有機會擅長各種事情上找到平衡。

Abidemi: There you go. That's it. Yeah.

阿比德米：說得很對。就是這樣，沒錯。